TA TALK

Issue 29

March 2018

In term 4 last year, we set ourselves two new goals. The first was to improve the new school member experience by providing new member orientations with school leaders, as soon as possible after joining ATA. As a result, schools are getting their staff linked to the member account and accessing our professional development resources more quickly. We also added a New Member Orientation video to the website, for all staff, accessible under the Membership tab.

The second goal was to check in with schools, on a scheduled basis, throughout the initial 12 month membership to offer support and learn how teacher aides are using our professional development. Below, we share with you some great feedback from a group of teacher aides in a remote Queensland school who work collaboratively to improve their practice:

"When any of our teacher aides need more information on how to support teachers or students, it is raised during our weekly meetings, where we discuss which of the ATA professional development resources may help solve the issue."

This week we partnered with Diana Homer, from the Crèche and Kindergarten Association to bring you a webinar on transition strategies for starting school. This webinar will soon be uploaded to our professional development library.

Our April webinars are available for registration now. On Tuesday 10th, we will wrap up our three part series on How to Apply for a Teacher Aide Position with a step by step guide to preparing for an interview.

Then Sue Suchocki, of Applied Techniques Training, will be joining us the following Tuesday to present a very practical webinar titled ADHD/ASD - The Game Plan. Sue was a teacher aide in a special school for many years, and is the mother of a daughter with ADHD/ASD. Read more about the webinars in this edition.

Lastly, a huge thank you to all of our Facebook followers. We are thrilled that we now have more than 10,000 people from all around Australia, and internationally, following our page.

As term one comes to a close, we wish you a Happy Easter and a well-deserved break.

Warm regards

Mandy and Stella

Have you joined MyPLC yet? This forum is exclusively for members to share information and network with other teacher aides. Some of the topics members shared on MyPLC this month included job vacancies, an article on crossing the midline, and discussions about IEPs and cued articulation.

Why not hop in during the holidays and get to know your colleagues.

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: Big Write and VCOP in the Middle Years 

Samantha Taylor of Andrell Education, shares her practical strategies to support middle and upper primary school students with writing. She shows you how to use oral and written activities that integrate VCOP, and how to differentiate activities for students of varying year levels and with different learning needs. This webinar includes a slide handout, worksheets and a link to additional resources.

MEMBER WEBINAR: How to Apply for a Teacher Aide Position Part 2 - A step by step guide to writing selection criteria

In part 2 of How To Apply For A Teacher Aide Position, Stella demonstrates how to respond to selection criteria using the STAR model. There are many hands on activities, and by the end of this webinar you will have written your own responses that can be used as a guide for future job applications. This webinar includes a worksheet.

RESOURCE: Assistive Technology for Students with Disability

In this program, Jeff Souter, Assistive and Inclusive Technologies, Queensland State Schools, demonstrates how to use assistive and inclusive technologies with students with disability, learning difficulties and other specific needs, to help them engage with the curriculum. Jeff shows you how to use iPads and readily available computer software such as Microsoft Windows to:

• enlarge text
• space words 
• change background colours
• use graphics to support text
• convert text to speech
• insert audio prompts
• print to Braille 

MEMBER WEBINAR: How to Apply for a Teacher Aide Position Part 3 - A step by step guide to preparing for an interview

On 10th April we will wrap up the three part series on How to Apply for a Teacher Aide Position with a step by step guide to preparing for an interview. In this interactive session, participants will learn:
• What to expect in an interview
• How to prepare for an interview
• A guide to answering interview questions

COMMUNITY WEBINAR: ADHD/ASD – The Game Plan

ATA guest presenter, Sue Suchocki, uses a unique approach to help educators and families support children, teens and adults with ADHD and ASD.

During this webinar, using the analogy of a soccer game, you will meet the players from the ADHD and ASD (Asperger’s) team in the world soccer league, identified by their individual profiles.

Learn what differs and what each team has in common; understand how the players read the game plan; and determine strategies that help the players to reach their goals in the classroom.

TA TOOLBOX - Communication

Recently, on MyPLC, one of our members asked for some help with cued articulation, and some great discussion and sharing of experiences and resources followed.

Cued articulation is a set of hand cues that are used to teach the individual sounds in words, where one hand movement represents one sound.

We have posted some links to more information in TA Toolbox.

Fav moments

68,513 views

5,835 reactions, comments and shares

The dedication and hard work of teacher aides does not go unnoticed, as illustrated by many of the appreciative messages and tags below this post. One of our favourite comments was about a boy who was cooking pancakes with his teacher aide, and when asked what pancakes smelled like he thought about it and said: They smell like love!” Our hearts are melting!

A wee bit funny

11,070 views
776 reactions, comments and shares

Teachers and teacher aides, alike, were heading to their local hardware store after this post about a slightly sneaky way to manage behaviour. Seems like some are already onto it, and tell students that the motion camera is watching them! Interestingly, a teacher from Peru commented that they actually have functioning cameras in their rooms.

WELCOME TO ATA!

Atherton State High School QLD
Bungunya State School QLD
Capalaba State College QLD
Drouin Secondary College VIC
Fennell Bay Public School NSW
Goondi State School QLD
Mareeba State High School QLD
Redeemer Lutheran College QLD
Redlynch State College QLD
Robina State School QLD
Rowland Hassall School NSW
Somerset College QLD
St Catherine's Primary School VIC
St Mary’s Primary School Armidale NSW
Sunnybank State High School QLD
WEA Hunter NSW
Wellington High School NSW
Woodridge North State School QLD